"Ride to Eat"

An excuse for a ride, as if I needed a reason. But there was more. My sister Carol has just returned to motorcycle riding after years of misappropriated priorities. Her new bike was due for a 600 mile service, or it would be by the time the Veteran's Day BBQ at Don Cameron's house would roll around. So we made it a rendezvous point.

For Carol and her riding companion Toni, it was a much shorter trip than for Nancy and I, but considering Carol has been off of two wheels for quite a while and Toni was experiencing two wheeling for the first time, Deming is probably a good "half way" point. For Carol and Toni it was an "epoch ride" of 116 miles. For Nancy and I, we spent two days off the Interstate as much as possible and arrive in Deming after riding about 750 miles.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Prior to arriving in Deming, we stop in Tempe after a long day of riding out of the L.A. Basin. Upon departure, it looks like the day is going to be "moist". By the time we get to Banning for our first gas stop, I don my rain suit. Of course, this exercise is effective in clearing the skies in less than a half an hour. We will not see another cloud for the remainder of the trip.

After successfully exiting the L.A. Basin, we get off of Interstate 10 at Palm Springs and follow Hwy 62 through Twentynine Palms into Parker, AZ. We then take AZ route 72 to 60 to Wickenburg. We make really good time from Parker to Wickenburg and I begin to notice that Nancy's range and tolerance of speed have increased this year. As we approach Phoenix, we get hung up in slow traffic which eventually degrades into a construction detour. We get further sidetracked by souvenir hunting at an incorrect address  in North Phoenix. Riding that last hour with our charcoal shields (at night) didn't help. We finally arrive at our room in Tempe.

Total for the day: 459 miles.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Saturday we're off, but not as early as I had hoped. We both had a hard time getting moving after the long and exhausting ride the previous day. We ride a short while to Globe where we find the ruins of an ancient Indian village known as Besh-Ba-Gowah which was inhabited in the 1300s. It was a very good stop and included a nice video documentary in the mini-theatre located on the premises. The time we spent at the ruins cost us a side trip to Silver City, but we both decide it was worth the time. I call Carol to let her know we would be arriving late, but hopefully in time to join them at the BBQ.

Bill and Nancy at the Besh-Ba-Gowah ruins (click on image for larger version)

We continue out of Globe on Hwy 70 until hit reaches Interstate 10 at Lordsburg. We stop in Lordsburg for a break and meet fellow BBQ'ers Dick and Sue from Prescott, AZ riding their black R1150RT. We follow I-10 the final hour of the ride into Deming, arriving at our hotel just in time to shake off the bugs, hug sister and ride to the BBQ just in time.

Tony getting her bike serviced (click on image for larger version)

Veteran's Day BBQ at Don Cameron's Pictures by Carol Allen (click on image for larger version)

The BBQ was good, the host, Don Cameron, was gracious. There seemed to be about 100 people there from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. After the door prize ceremony. I didn't win anything but Nancy won a roll of clear duct tape and Toni won a cool multi-tool which made Carol incredibly jealous. After the BBQ, we rode around downtown Deming (sidewalks had already rolled up) and we returned to the hotel.

The four of us sat in the lobby and chatted for a while. I impressed the crowd with my laptop. Nancy and Toni soon became too tired to be interested in the entertainment and went off to bed. Carol and I stayed up and talked until a little after 1 am local time. Obviously, we had a lot of catching up to do.

Total for the day: 335 miles.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

We pack up, I hug my sister once more and we're off for another adventure.

We head south towards Columbus, New Mexico, site of the last invasion by a foreign force on U.S. soil until 9/11. Columbus was invaded by Pancho Villa's "army" on March 9th, 1916. Click here for more information. We toured at the Pancho Villa Museum and received a surprise lecture from a docent who's father was employed by the local store during the time of the raid. His point that there was "two versions to the story" was well made. I did not realize that this incident nearly started a new war or at least a revival of the 1848 skirmish. Fortunately, this was merely a training exercise for Pershing who was later deployed in Europe during WWI. Interesting stuff! We departed Columbus heading west on NM 9 along the border. It was obvious to us that Governor Bill Richardson is serious about border protection. We saw several instances of the National Guard stationed along the border with all kinds of military gear.

We continue on Hwy 9 to Arizona and south on Hwy 80 and take a little detour through the Coronado National Forest towards Chiricahua National Monument but have to turn around at Portal due to road conditions.  The last 19 miles might be O.K. for a solo rider on a GS, but not two up (at least the two of us) with gear on a RT. We continue south on Hwy 80 to Douglas. The break was welcome to Nancy because there was no public restrooms that we could find between Columbus and Douglas, about 166 miles!

We continue west on Hwy 80 through Bisbee and stop in Tombstone. We arrive late so we miss the gunfights in the street. Nancy is more impressed with Tombstone than I am (too commercial for me), but it's still a worthwhile stop and detour. We regret not stopping in Bisbee because the town looked European (built on a hillside) and appeared to have some character. We arrive at our hotel in Sierra Vista, this time before dark.

Total for the day: 302 miles.

Monday, November 14, 2005

We're packing up getting ready for a long day when Nancy mentions that she would like to go back to Bisbee. As I'm taking my shower, I realize we could easily cancel our reservation in Yuma and reschedule a little bit. That's exactly what I do and we backtrack to Bisbee, touring the town and taking the guided tour of the Queen Mine.

Our tour guide, Juan, was pretty amazing. He "retired" as a miner in 1975 because the mine closed down due to falling copper prices. The mayor of Bisbee asked him as well as others if they would like to prepare the mines for public tours and they agreed. They worked free for seven months setting up the mine for tours and he's been a tour guide ever since. He is now 84 and in great shape. This was a great tour and only cost $12 ($13.03 including tax). It was worth the time and money.

At the end of the tour, we followed the border on Hwy 92 back towards Sierra Vista, turning west on Hwy 82 towards Patagonia and Nogales. I'm amazed at the landscape of southeast Arizona. I had no idea it was so lush and green! It's unfortunate it's so hard to get to. As we arrive in Nogales, we discover Nogales is a typical border town (hard to distinguish where the border is). We stay long enough to refresh ourselves and are heading north on I-19 towards Tucson. We ride through Tucson and find a hotel on the north side of town. The rates are good and the mattress is firm (not always the case on this trip).

Total for the day: 219 miles.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

This is the day we pay for yesterday. A lot of miles and a lot of Interstate. What we didn't bargain for is a lot of cross wind. By the time we reach Yuma (almost sounds like a Glen Campbell song), the wind is difficult to ignore. I teach Nancy the "hug the Camelback" maneuver as we both get down as far as we can to reduce the "sail" area.

We turn north on Hwy 111 through Brawley and tour the eastern shore of the Salton Sea. We take the scenic route (Hwy 74) out of Palm Springs. It's really cold at the top of the "hill" and we stop to put on our cold weather gear. On the decent, we pick up Hwy 371, to Hwy 79 to I-15. Since it was dark by this time, we decide to go south on I-15 to Hwy 76 instead of taking Ortega Hwy.

We arrive home about 6:30 pm, change clothes and pick up the pups from the lodge.

Total for the day: 532 miles.

Total for the trip: 1,847 miles.

Great roads, great destinations, great weather. I still can't get over the landscape in southeast Arizona.

Great to see my sister and to see her back on two wheels once again.